


stay the night?

by WiseBlondeHunter



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, i just really love them okay, of course, staying the night, the typical stupid trope every does for this ship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-10
Updated: 2017-02-10
Packaged: 2018-09-23 06:06:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9643751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WiseBlondeHunter/pseuds/WiseBlondeHunter
Summary: Nancy didn't know why she asked. Well, logically she knew why she asked. She couldn't sleep and the feeling of someone who has shared your trauma can help assuage feelings of anxiety. (She'd read some textbooks. They didn't help much.)





	

**Author's Note:**

> it's time for me to hop on this bandwagon of trope-y cliche jancy fics.  
> i can't help it, i love them to death

_ Will you spend the night again? _

Nancy didn't know why she asked. Well, logically she knew why she asked. She couldn't sleep and the feeling of someone who has shared your trauma can help assuage feelings of anxiety. (She'd read some textbooks. They didn't help much.)

Nightmares full of darkness and monsters and isolation plagued her. She never felt  _ safe  _ in her own room. But as soon as Jonathan walked into her general vicinity, her pounding heart was set at ease.

She paced the length of her room, biting at her nails. She let her hands fall and the sleeves of the sweater she wore dropped past her fingers.  _ Relax, Nancy. Relax. _

Someone knocked at her window and it startled her so badly she screamed. It was Jonathan. 

“I’m sorry, I didn't mean to scare you,” he mumbled when he had clambered in. Steve was adept at climbing in her window due to practice but Jonathan was just more graceful.  _ Wait what? _

“No it's okay. Everything scares me lately,” Nancy said. Jonathan reached out in a show of confidence (by his standards anyways) and hugged her. He was smaller than Steve but warmer. He hugged her gently, cradling her and giving her a sense of control rather than pulling her in even if she didn't want to be.  _ Stop comparing them. _

“Nightmares?” Jonathan asked shortly. She nodded and pulled back. She hopped on her bed and patted the area next to him.

“Is that my sweater?” he asked after a moment’s silence. Nancy looked down, cheeks turning red. She considered telling him the truth, that it gave her comfort. That she slept in it. That his scent was on it and it helped her to sleep. She opted out of those ideas and just apologized. She started taking off when Jonathan stopped her. “No, it’s fine. You… you can keep it.” They exchanged small smiles.

They sat facing each other, legs crossed like kids. Nancy suddenly opened up her hands and reached for Jonathan’s. She stared at their matching scars, clutching Jonathan’s hand so hard it must have hurt. “You know, Mike told me…” she paused to chuckle a bit. “He told me that I was stupid for doing that. He said to cut your calf or your bicep cause you need your hand for stuff.” 

“He’s a smart kid,” Jonathan said quietly. Nancy linked their fingers together and looked up at him. “You’re staying the night right?”

“Of course.”

It wasn't awkward anymore. It was safe. It was nice. They laid down and fell asleep with their hands locked together.

\---

The next day at school Nancy wore Jonathan’s sweater. A girl she was becoming friends with mentioned how ragged it seemed. Nancy decided that she didn’t want to be friends with her. 

Lunch came all too soon and Steve was waiting at her locker for her. He was chattering about something she couldn’t focus on. She grabbed the roll of film she bought last week, slammed her locker shut, and almost shouted, “I almost forgot, I need to give Jonathan this… roll of film I got for him.” Without another word or glance she was speed walking away.

She found him walking to his car. He must have been leaving for lunch. He looked up at her and smiled. “Hey, Nancy.”  _ He doesn’t call me Nance. I like the way he says my name. _

“I got this for you the other day, I just forgot about it and it was in my locker so…” She shrugged and hiked her bag higher up on her shoulder. It was just a roll of film but judging by the look on Jonathan’s face it could’ve easily been solid gold. 

“Nancy, this is the fifth one you’ve gotten me. What’s next, you’re gonna pay for my college tuition?” They both laughed, Nancy harder than either of them. She couldn’t exactly tell when her laughter turned to sobs. But she could tell that Jonathan was there, wrapping her in his arms. He wasn’t telling her that it would be okay but rather that she wasn’t alone and that was the thing she needed the most.

\---

“Hi, Mrs. Byers.”

Joyce knitted her brows together as she looked Nancy up and down. Joyce checked her watch and raised her eyebrows, looking back up at her. “Um, Nancy, you know it's almost midnight right?” Nancy nodded, her chest tightening. Maybe it was a mistake to come through the front door but she didn't exactly know which window was Jonathan’s.

“I um… I have this weird feeling that something’s wrong. Can I… can I just see Jonathan?” Nancy stammered. There was no nightmares that night but she was woken up anyways by a deep ache in her chest. It wasn't that something was empty or missing. Maybe something was wrong?

Joyce finally nodded and opened the door wider. The house wasn’t as big or as clean as hers but it felt lived in, whereas hers…

Joyce stopped at the door before the end of the hall, gesturing to it. “Nancy, whatever you two had to go through, I’m so sorry for it. But I’m glad that you have each other now.” She patted her bicep comfortingly before walking off.

Nancy gathered her courage before opening the door to see a startling sight. Jonathan was lying on his back, shirtless, legs twisted in his sheets. He was covered in a slight sheen of sweating and panting.

She recognized the look on his sleeping face: he was having a nightmare. Nancy couldn't get to his side fast enough. She was shaking him, stroking his hair back from his forehead. “Jonathan, it's okay, I’m here, I’m here,” she whispered. When he woke her up from nightmares, he was calm and assured. She sounded frantic and scared.

His eyes snapped open, searching wildly to gain sense of his surroundings. His hands grabbed onto hers, still cupping his face. “Am I still dreaming?” he asked. A small chuckle bubbled in her chest despite everything.

She perched herself on the edge of his bed. “No, it's okay. I’m here.” All of a sudden, she realized what the feeling, the aching, was. Guilt. Nancy gasped with the realization. He was always there for her, always. He snuck into her room when she asked, he held her while she cried, he endured Steve’s teasing for her. And she had never given him anything back.

“Oh my god, I am so sorry, Jonathan,” she gasped. Jonathan sat up straight so he could look her in the eyes. “Nancy-”

“No, I haven't been there for you! I never thought that you have nightmares like I do or that you got scared like I do. But you do, you  _ do,  _ and I haven't been here!” She scrambled for his hands. She found them and held them close to her heart. Tears soon spilled over into her cheeks, making tracks that cooled her flushed cheeks.

She felt deplorable. She was Jonathan’s only friend and she was more concerned about herself than him. 

“Nancy, it's okay,” he murmured. He pulled one of his hands free to brush her hair back from her face like she had done. “Nancy, I’m not upset. I don't feel bad. Taking care of you helps me take care of myself.” She sniffled and let their intertwined hands fall to the bed.

“You’ve been there for me in ways I can't describe to you. I don't need more,” he assuaged. His thumb rubbed the back of her hand soothingly. 

“But you deserve more,” she whispered. Jonathan cocked his head a little bit.

“You’re- you’re brave and good and  _ kind  _ and nobody sees it. You’re such a great person and- and you’ve been through so much and you just deserve  _ everything _ . I would give you the world if I could.” She looked up at him through her lashes to see that, to her surprise, he was crying too. All of a sudden, he was in her arms, not the other way around, letting hot tears fall onto her neck. They sat like that for what seemed like hours. Jonathan pulled back with a chuckle.

“We’re both messes. I’m sorry for crying. And crying  _ on  _ you,” he said with a small laugh. 

“Crying together is better than crying alone.”

  
With those decisive words, Nancy slid underneath the sheets and opened up her arms. Jonathan wasted no time in wrapping himself up in her and nuzzling into her neck. That night there were no nightmares, no thoughts of anyone else, and no thoughts of what the next day would bring.


End file.
